The best Albana di Romagna? “Vitalba” of Tre Monti and “Founders GP” of Merlotta

An ancient, rare and precious wine, Albana di Romagna is one of the most distinctive vines and wines of the Emilia Romagna wine region. That wine that already in 400 A.D. fascinated Galla Placidia, daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius the Great, who after tasting the local wine in a terracotta bowl, according to the legend, exclaimed “not so humbly you should drink it, but we should drink it in gold”, from which the town of Bertinoro, considered the cradle of Albana, took its name. A wine which today has become a niche wine, also for the production volumes, it is a typology on which the Consorzio Vini di Romagna, led by Ruenza Santandrea, aims at relaunching the wine-growing of the region based on the most identifiable and historical vines, such as Albana itself (as well as Sangiovese and Trebbiano, ed). The consortium that has staged the wine selection “Albana Dèi” 2020, conceived and curated by Carlo Catani and Andrea Spada, which, in recent days, has announced the winners in the Cloisters of the former Convent of the Osservanza in Brisighella.
Seven were the finalist wines, judged by a technical jury in a first phase, and by the public (during the few events that took place last year among squares and restaurants, the latter involved for the first time in the initiative). First place in the “Albana Dèi” category (dry type) went to “Vitalba” from Tre Monti di Imola, followed by “Fondatori GP” from Merlotta di Imola and “Coronilla” from Bulzaga di Faenza, all 2019 vintages. In the section “L’Indigeno del Cuore - Premio Valter Dal Pane”, the popular opinion has largely confirmed the one of the technical jury, confirming, at the first and second place, respectively “Vitalba” of Tre Monti and “Fondatori GP” of Merlotta; third place of honor, instead, for “Gioja” 2019 of Giovannini of Imola.